August 25th 2008

Having been looked after by Napoleons so well in July 2008 we have decided to venture to another of their venues - this time Napoleons in Bradford over the weekend of Friday 30th January 2009.

Hope to see you there to mix it up with some of the best amateur poker players around.....

August 18th 2008

Sponsorec by Virgin Poker, the 2nd Poker Occasions Festival (PokOcc2) will take place over the weekend of Friday 30th January 2009.

PokOcc is living up to its nature of 'mix it up' with this time 3 separate events - 1 on each day of the weekend.

A Festival Ticket costs £250 (incl £25 reg fee) and gives a seat at each of the following tournaments:

Friday 30th January 2009 - a 10-hour Pot Limit Texas Holdem Freezeout 

Saturday 31st January 2009 - a 12-hour No Limit Texas Holdem Double Chance Freezeout

Sunday 1st February 2009 - a 3-hour No Limit Texas Holdem Speed Freezeout 

Again, the Festival Champion will be the player with the best overall results having played in all 3 tournaments and they will walk away with an expenses paid trip to the Las Vegas WSOP 2009 with flight and accommodation paid and $1500 spending mone GUARANTEED.

Pictured is Barney Frain, the Festival Champion from PokOcc1 in July 2008.

August 4th 2008

Out thanks go out to Tom Brady who over the past 6 months has helped us enormously in getting Poker Occasions off the ground - and specifically our inaugural event of the Poker Occasions Festival on 25th July.  His advice and guidance on the website and database design (and thanks to his contact at Evergreen Computing for doing all the hard work!) and his help is securing sponsorship for the Poker Occasions Festival from Virgin Poker has been invaluable.

Having now agreed the make-up of PokOcc2 for the weekend of Friday 30th January 2009 we have eventually agreed to say thanks to Tom so he can get back to his real job, but no doubt our new found association, and friendship, will continue for some time to come.

We look forward to seeing you at the tables Tom.

July 29th 2008

The final table results from the Poker Occasions Festival:-

£100 NLTH Freezeout

£250 NLTH Freezeout

July 28th 2008

Many, many congratulations to Barney Frain - triumphant as the Poker Occasions Festival Champion.

Barney won entry to the Festival from a prize through playing in a national free-to-play pub poker league (www.LivePubPokerLeague.com), and having scored two magnificent final-table finishes of 6th and 8th from a field of 72 players his performance was truely fitting of a Festival Champion.

The Friday £100 No Limit Texas Holdem Freezeout saw players sit down and compete for a prize fund of £7000 with a 'tempered' structure lasting 8 hours of play.  With Barney finishing 6th and winning a pot of £420, it was however Dave 'Rotherham Dave' Wattan who walked away with the top prize of £2800.  Dave showed some pretty sound, cool and collected play throughout the event and headed into the 2nd tournament on Saturday and Sunday with a chance, if winning it, of competing at the WSOP 2009 $10,000 Main Event.

The Saturday and Sunday £250 No Limit Texas Holdem Freezeout (Deepstack) saw 72 players start with blind levels of 40 minutes being extended to 60 minutes for those lucky enough to progress through to play on Sunday.  Having been unlucky to be knocked out 'Rotherham Dave' walked away with his head held high but unfortunately not making the money.  However the final table of 10 players saw performances worthy of the professional poker scene.  With Barney Frain exiting in 8th and winning £720 for his efforts, it was however the performance of Alan Hardy that stood out.  Always seeming to be in control of proceedings, Alan mixed his play almost as much as his 'sit or stand' routine, and with an almost intimidating presence he seemed to cruise to victory and take home a handsome pay package of £5400.

With a total prize fund of over £25,000, Barney's 2 final table finishes earned him a total of £1,140 - but it is the Festival Champion prize of an expenses paid trip to Las Vegas and the WSOP 2009 that will no doubt eventually see this young man excited at the poker table..... best of luck Barney.